Beechcraft 95B55 N62RF

Summary

On 22 March 2017 at about 00:56 local time, a Beechcraft 95B55 registered N62RF was involved in an accident near Islip, New York, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 March 2017 at 00:56

Classification

Accident

Location

Islip, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Long Island Mac Arthur (ISP)

Coordinates

40.7953, -73.1003

Aircraft

Beechcraft 95B55

Registration

N62RF

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Islip → Islip

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA17LA134

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to lower the landing gear before touchdown, which resulted in the gear-up landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was planning to perform practice night landings at the airport, and after initially departing, was returning to the airport after conducting some practice instrument maneuvers. He stated that once he was on final approach to the runway, he prepared for landing using his “written checklist" and that “[e]verything with the approach and completed checklist appeared normal." He then did a check of the gas, undercarriage, mixture, props, and flaps several times. He stated that the airplane touched down normally on the runway, then dropped and skidded to a stop. Following the accident, the airplane was observed on its belly on the runway; the landing gear were not extended. Examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the forward wing spar. No evidence of damage was noted to the landing gear system linkages and retraction rods, which would have been evident if all three landing gear had collapsed. Operational checks of the landing gear system revealed that the landing gear system was functional. During a follow-up interview, the pilot stated that he landed right on the runway centerline but that “[u]nfortunately, the gear was not under the airplane” and that it was “[m]y fault.” Given this information, the pilot’s failure to lower the landing gear before touchdown resulted in the gear-up landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.